Crescents
by moonshowers
Summary: Tokka oneshot. Boomerang doesn't come back, but neither does Suki. A past/present/future exploration of Sokka and Toph's relationship, picking up from the airships.


**Haven't written anything creative in nearly a decade, but Tokka has been hitting me hard. Any and all feedback is appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: don't own Avatar.  
**

* * *

"Have I ever mentioned how sweet it is that you invented metalbending?" Sokka asked, admiring the damage Toph was able to inflict on another fire nation airship. She had quite literally bent the metal rudder so it would change its course and crash into the ship next to them, slowing them down and throwing off the firebenders enough to let up on the destruction of the land beneath them.

"You could stand to mention it more," Toph remarked with a satisfied smirk. She had impressed Sokka and the rest of their group with her earthbending skills since she joined them months ago, but she never hesitated to bask in the praise she received- a sense of self-worth she only realized while fighting grown men at Earth Rumble VI.

Toph's ear twitched at the unexpected sound of a door opening behind them, her moment of pride cut short. A firebender had poked his head through the narrow opening of the exit door to inspect the damage to the rudder. The captain would not have made such a destructive order. The only explanation was some sort of debris hitting the rudder, or perhaps an engineering malfunction. Either way, not his problem.

To his surprise, it was a water tribe teen and his earthbending accomplice.

Toph lunged forward, grateful that her bare feet were able to grip the slope of the airship. Her sense of balance was ripped from her as Sokka grabbed her arm, knowing of the eventual fire blast that the guard would produce. Three years older, he was physically stronger and faster, and she would struggle to keep up without him guiding her. Despite his maturity, he knew that she, too, was well aware of the unrelenting bloodthirst this nation had for Avatar sympathizers.

And as he predicted, the fire blast came spiraling towards them, born from the fury of a fist and further encouraged by the comet. They felt its heat before it was able to engulf them, and that was all Sokka needed to leap off the slope of the airship and test his luck at preventing a thorough roasting. Squeezing his grip on Toph's wrist, he whipped out his space sword with a practiced precision and sunk it into the body of the ship, attempting to slow down and brace their fall.

Toph was _not _happy. She didn't appreciate being dragged around on the top of a burning blimp, and was livid about getting yanked off of it. Granted, knowing a lousy firebender could boast the kill of two kids in the Avatar's posse would have made her even more angry, so she forgave Sokka for jumping off. But this pride could not stifle her fear, and the abruptness of her lack of grounding caused her to shriek. She would save her shame for another time, if there was another time.

Sokka's muscles, while he thought himself strong, felt as if they were being torn in two as he held on to his sword with one hand and his friend with another. Frustration dueled with his fear- his tektite weapon was slicing through the fire nation airship like butter and doing nothing to slow their fall.

His eyes widened in horror as the sword quickly withdrew from the metal as they passed the widest point of the airship's width, leaving them no guidance as they fell through the smoky air. He stared in dismay as the safety of the roof grew further away. The strain in his right arm subsided as his sword withdrew completely from the ship, leaving them airborne. But before he knew it, his left leg hit a platform extension of the gondola and his right arm threatened to pop out of the socket of his shoulder as Toph flew past him, clearly missing the landing.

"My leg!" Sokka cried, stifling a curse and momentarily loosening his grip on Toph's wrist, to her dismay. Her throat hurt from all the screaming, and she was resentful that Sokka got the luxury of _not _being suspended in midair and at the mercy of what little senses she had left.

"Hang on Toph!" Sokka shouted through gritted teeth, trying not to focus on the intense pain in his leg.

"Aye aye, captain!" She shouted back, trying to lighten the mood upon hearing the pain in his voice. She squeezed him in encouragement, feeling Sokka's pulse racket away underneath her fingers.

She lifted her head up to the sound of another door being opened, this time accompanied by several iron-clad feet running out onto the metal beam where Sokka lay. Toph's palms began to sweat, and she dug her nails further into Sokka's wrist.

Sokka watched in dismay as the harness-bound firebenders approached him, assuming position. Without thinking, his fingers found the sharp edge of the boomerang saddled to his hip, as they had so many times before. He chucked it with all his might towards the firebender at his right, snapping the thick wire that secured him to the ship and snuffing out the birth of a fire blast from his fist. The guard's steady footing faltered in surprise, and he fell.

With the same urgency, Sokka kicked the hilt of his sword from its stick in the platform and grasped its edge mid-air. He ignored the sharp pain of the blade buried in his palm and whipped it at the soldier to his right, slicing through the entire body of the platform and sending the guard to his death in the firey hell that roared beneath them.

"Bye, space sword", Sokka whimpered, watching his beloved, albeit inanimate, companion spiral through the air after his enemy and into the smoke. He knew it would take the sacrifice of his weapons to buy them more time, but that couldn't override the hollow feeling of loss. He wasn't a bender, and now he only had his bare hands to fend for himself.

Toph gritted her teeth at the lack of awareness and the heat of the wildfires below them. Her heart skipped several beats as she felt Sokka's hand slipping, gripping him only by the fingers now. She knew he had lost both of his weapons from what had transpired. Perhaps his boomerang would return in time? With the amount of steps she had heard come out of the airship, it probably wouldn't even matter. She swallowed her naiveté but it stuck, forming a lump in her throat.

Sokka groaned in exhaustion and defeat, watching more firebenders pour out from the gondola. Too many moments had passed by. "I don't think boomerang's coming back, Toph," he stated, voice shaking and eyes squeezing shut in pain. He wouldn't let his weakness be the reason he let go. "I think this is the end," he told her, choking on his words as he watched her face contort in fear.

"Look out!" one of the guards shouted, pointing behind Sokka. They quickly left the plank of the gondola, a very different sense of urgency calling them away from where Sokka and Toph were hanging on.

Before Sokka could lift his head back to see what danger approached them, it crashed into the underbelly of the airship, the force shoving Sokka from the safety of his perch.

To Toph's surprise, the fall was short. She was able to sense in her hands and feet that something solid approached her mid-fall, and she braced her muscles accordingly to lessen the damage of the fall. Sokka was not graced with this sixth sense of sorts- his chi did not flow the same way it did for those who could bend; and the senses he did have were certainly not as finely tuned as Toph's were.

He landed on both feet, collapsing in pain as he gripped his shin. His vision tunneled, adrenaline wavering, shattered bone grazing the nerves in his left leg. The incredulous tone in Toph's voice brought him back, an instinct motivating him to snuff out the pain. This battle wasn't over.

"How did that happen? Did boomerang come back?"

"I don't know," he muttered.

_"Just finish the mission!" Suki had called before the approaching smoke from the impact immersed her in ash and shadow. Paralyzed in shock, Sokka couldn't tear his eyes away. _

_"Sokka! I think we've gotta-"_

"I don't know," he repeated, turning his gaze towards Toph, inspecting her for any injury. Behind her, he caught sight of the destruction he had caused with his "airship slice" strategy. How many lives had it took, he wondered. How many lives did it save?

Toph wiped the sweat from her forehead, plastering her bangs to the side. "Is your leg okay?" she asked, hearing him stifle a whimper in pain. It made her nervous; she wouldn't be able to carry him to safety by herself.

"Doesn't feel too great," Sokka choked, his eyes welling with tears from the pain. He let his head down onto the warm metal of the roof, looking for the moon with the light of the morning sun.

Toph's throat hurt from the smoke and the lump that was still buried there. Helplessness was a feeling she had tried so hard to bury over the years, but she had never felt it to that degree. The moment of true blindness, true dependence on another person, had shook her to her core. She drew in a shaky breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Her eyes flickered behind her lids as she tapped into the nerves of her body, rooting her focus and energy into her hands and feet.

The occasional bits of debris hitting the airship were overwhelming- causing large ripples in her seismic sense. Sokka lay four paces away from her. She could feel a break in vibration where the roof door was- the one she had failed to feel on the prior ship. Long metal bars ran down- a ladder. More debris hitting the body, distracting her, and this time it stuck into the shell of the ship.

"We need to get off the roof," she shouted. Not only were they an open target for shrapnel, but her skin continued to grow hot as the ship approached the flames. They must be sinking.

Toph gripped the ship with her right hand and roughly sunk her fingers in, bending her elbow down and thrusting her shoulder and arm towards the roof door she had felt. It swung open with a loud _thwunk,_ now hanging by a single hinge. She turned around to help Sokka get to his feet, and they began limping towards the door.

Sokka slid down first, careful to avoid putting pressure on his shin. Toph followed closely behind, securing the door shut on her way down. Even the metal within the ship was now warm to the touch. The heat of the fires was unrelenting.

Sokka inhaled, trying to focus only on the task at hand. He looked down to assess how much further they'd have to climb, and returned his gaze forward to his grip on the ladder. He noticed his hand was stamping blood on each rung, the cut from his space sword still fresh. He swallowed dryly, hoping his adrenaline would last and continue to dull the pain.

Moments before Sokka's foot touched the ground, the airship lurched with a deafening crash as they hit the outskirts of the Wulong Forest. Sokka was sandwiched between the floor and Toph, who had also lost her grip on the ladder upon the airship crashing into the tops of the trees. They slid down the catwalk with a yell until the ship came to a halt.

Before Toph could clamber off of Sokka, the ship slowly began to tip over, settling on its side and into its final resting place on the shallow waters of the river. The right side of the ship now lay flat, water lapping at its sides. Despite its metal structure, it seemed to deflate on itself as the beams bent to accommodate the shift in weight.

They lay still for a moment, gripping each other's sleeves and breathing heavily. Sokka, despite being thrown around upon their turbulent landing, found himself propped on his elbows and shielding Toph, who laid beneath him. Her arms were outstretched, fingers sunk into the metal sides of the ship in an attempt to steady herself. The wide grimace on her face remained for the moment of paralysis the pair shared, afraid that the slightest movement would cause the ship to tip further.

Sokka finally sat up, bumping his head on a beam that had bent significantly in the landing. He peered around them, rubbing his head, disoriented with the new layout. They had slid far down the catwalk and the ladder they had come down was out of sight. Sokka began to feel increasingly claustrophobic as he squinted in the darkness, looking for any sign of an exit.

"Man," Toph muttered dryly, raising herself up. "That was quite the joy ride."

"No kidding," Sokka breathed. He rested his head against a beam, exhaustion taking over. He turned towards Toph, relieved that he had at least taken most of the beating. More moments of silence passed as the pair caught their breath. "We need to keep moving," he said finally, squeezing his eyes shut and lifting his head. "We need to find Aang."

Toph nodded in agreement and began to feel around her. Sensing here was like a maze- the abundance of bent structuring was leading her to dead ends. She could feel the familiar composition of the ladder they had come down though, and knew which way would get them down and out.

Maneuvering the metal was trickier than usual- Toph had to feel which beams were supporting others to ensure her bending wouldn't cause further damage to the already compromised structure they were caged in. She lowered herself into an opening she had made, guiding Sokka down the metal jungle gym and finally peeling back a portion of the outer shell of the ship into a makeshift slide. The opposite end landed with a splash.

"Is that water?" Toph asked, startled by the sound. Her heart sank at the prospect of being denied real, raw earth. Her body yearned for some sort of foundation after their tumultuous hour spent on the airships.

Sokka peered over her shoulder and scoped the landscape. They had crash landed in a section of the forest that was untouched by the fire nation's fury. The only disturbance was the broken tops of trees where the belly of the airship had scraped through. Ash swirled around in the air like snow, reminding Sokka of the home he had left many moons ago. He drew his eyes downward, towards the water, momentarily reflecting on simpler times. He drew his legs over the slope Toph had created and slid down, landing gently in shallow water.

After reassurance from Sokka, Toph followed suit, and they began their short trek from the ship into the cover of trees.

"It's a little tight, but I think it's better that way. Thanks."

Sokka lifted his leg, admiring Toph's handiwork. She had fashioned a metal cast of sorts and bent it around Sokka's shin to secure his broken bone. They sat together under a rock tent, preparing for rest that was well overdue. The weight in their eyelids and the soreness in their muscles coaxed them under the shelter of the stone cover, forcing priority over bathing. Smoke and ash coated Toph's skin where the water had not touched. Bruises bloomed over her knuckles. Her feet were red and swollen, a painful memory of burnt soles reminding her of weeks prior.

_"I won't let you down! I promise." Zuko walked towards the group, a joyful determination apparent in the pitch of his voice. They were in the Western Air Temple, recouping after their failed attempt at overthrowing the fire lord during the solar eclipse. After some fighting, explosions, and burned feet, Aang had found himself a new firebending teacher, seemingly appearing on a silver platter._

_Sokka gingerly wrapped one arm beneath Toph's knees and the other around her back. She was lifted into the air from her seat on the well where she had been soaking her feet. He carried her within the temple's walls and down the hall to her room. The group typically spent their free afternoons by themselves, since nearly all of their time was spent together. Earlier that day, Toph had expressed wanting some time alone to meditate, per Aang's incessant suggesting, although she really just wanted some peace and quiet. Meditating was boring. Picking scabs was a lot more relaxing._

_"Aaaand here we are," Sokka announced, setting her down on the old futon. _

_"Thanks," she replied, lifting her arm to punch Sokka. "Wha..?" Her fist met no bicep, the velocity of her throw and the careful avoidance of letting her feet touch the ground causing her to fall off the futon. _

_Sokka slapped his thigh and cackled. "Nice one, Toph. Not gonna lie, it's kind of nice having you completely disabled."_

_She huffed at her bangs and sat up, feeling her way back onto the bed. To her surprise, she felt the cushion shift as Sokka sat down beside her. _

_"You need anything else?" he asked. _

Yeah, some private time with my scabs. _"Nope. But not gonna lie, it's kind of nice having you as my personal slave." She grinned at her sly retort, careful not to laugh. _

_Sokka scoffed. "In your dreams, mud slug. Holler in you need me." He began to get up and walk towards the door. _

_"Wait, I do have one request," Toph blurted. She pulled nervously at the hem of her shirt, scratching at the threads. She turned her head towards the breeze of the window behind her, hiding her growing blush from his sight. "When we start setting up the fire, can you put my mat next to yours?"_

_"Uh, duh," he smirked, leaning against the doorframe. "Later, toasty toes."_

"You need anything else?" she asked, her eyes fixated on the wall as she willed the memory away. Her fingers found the hem of her shirt. Hmm, singed a bit.

Sokka looked at his leg, wondering what he needed. Sleep, that was certain. Food, eventually, but preferably sooner rather than later. His eyes traveled up his leg to the water tribe weapon missing from its sheath. Despite the small relief of weight from his hip, the loss of his boomerang hung heavily on him. He lifted his hands. His left was now wrapped with the fingerless glove that failed to barricade his flesh from the sword's edge. He had ripped up the blood-soaked fabric and tied it tight to stop the bleeding and prevent impurities from infecting the wound. His right was in better shape, fortunately. It was this hand that connected him to Toph while she swung helplessly below on the airship. She had left terribly deep nail marks in his wrist, unbeknownst to him until now. He traced the half moons with his finger, still red and indented in his flesh.

"Just some shut-eye," he replied moments later. "We should both get some rest," he sighed, laying down. His mind wandered to Aang and his sister, his father and the rest who were risking their lives for the same cause. He thought about Suki, the day they first met, all the things she had taught him, where she could be now. Did she make it through? Had they lost anyone? A headache began to grow, and he willed himself to think of nothing and focus only on his breathing. To his quiet surprise, it was another's that beckoned him into a drowsy state.

Toph sat slumped against the wall, feet flat on the ground. The gentle lapping of the shore lulled her to a state of semi-consciousness, Sokka slowly following suit.

Toph was choked awake, very suddenly realizing the tide had grown to an incredible size and completely washed over her tent. The pair had only been asleep for a few precious minutes; she was a bit groggy from her cat nap being cut so short. Eyes wide and cheeks puffed, she slammed her feet into the ground and clocked her fists skyward in an uppercut. The pair shot several feet up as a column of earth lifted them up and out of the rising flood.

Sokka sputtered awake, looking around in shock. The fires that had been blazing eastward were extinguished as the gentle, albeit massive wave overtook the trees. They sat on their small island, safe from its grasp. And just as suddenly as it came, it retreated.

"Aang," Sokka whispered in slow realization. "Toph, it's gotta be Aang!"

"That must mean we've won, right?" she asked, startled as her voice cracked with emotion. This war could be over. Their task complete.

"I don't know anyone else that could waterbend a.. flood," Sokka said, looking around him in awe. He had grown used to the power of bending, having traveled long and far with the Avatar and watching his sister master her craft. Before they had met Aang, her waterbending was still a force to be reckoned with, in his opinion. But now- seeing _this,_ a feat of nature at the mercy of human hands and in the name of peace, drew him to his knees. He turned to Toph, her jaw clenched, veins protruding from her hands that lay flat on their pillar. He still didn't truly understand bending, and perhaps he never would. But seeing the flood, and seeing Toph act so instinctively, only made him appreciate it more.

_"We'll split up to cover more area," Sokka decided, rubbing his hand over the freshly posted flyer. "Toph, I guess you should just come with me."_

_"Why? Because you think I can't put up posters on my own?" Toph snarled, grabbing the first flyer off of the stack and ripping the brush, still dripping with glue, from Sokka's grip. She whipped it across the wall and slammed the paper onto the glue, still fuming._

_After a few moments of awkward silence, Toph bit her lip. "It's upside down, isn't it?" She clenched her fists, embarrassed at her outburst but frustrated nonetheless with her unintentionally parading her disability. Earthbending couldn't cover _everything_, a reality she still struggled to accept. "I'll just go with Sokka." She handed over the brush back to him, keeping her head down._

_The group split up, Katara covering the west wing of the city square and Aang covering the south. Sokka and Toph began walking eastward, towards the rising sun. _

_"It's not that I don't think you're incapable," Sokka began, trying to diffuse the situation. "I mean, you're clearly capable. With fighting and whatnot. I just think we're more uh..effective? As a team. You and me. Yeah." He nodded his head in approval. _

_Toph huffed, unable to sense his heartbeat and breathing while they walked. She needed stillness if she wanted to tell whether he was lying or not, a perk of her earthbending that she had yet to reveal to her friends. It could still come in handy. And she knew Sokka was probably just bluffing, but a small part of her, one she tried hard to keep away, curled open inside and smiled._

_"Hey," Sokka said, voice considerably lower this time. He stopped walking, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know you want to help. I know you still feel bad about Appa getting captured." _

_Toph held her breath. She kept her head hanging low, the curtain of her bangs hiding her face._

_"We owe our lives to you- you kept the library from sinking and completely burying us. I know it must've been really hard for you, knowing what was happening with Appa and everything, and I just want you to know that I owe you one. Aang and Katara, too. And you are capable, even if you stick posters on backwards."_

_"Oh, uh.." Toph scratched the back of her head, unsure how to respond. _The poster was backwards? Ugh! _But even so, he was sincere. She could feel it now. What should she say? Should she hug him? She imagined his arms around her, her face nuzzled in his neck. Her palms grew sweaty. She felt heat rise to her face and she kept her head down. _

_"I mean it," Sokka continued, determined to cheer her up. "You're-"_

_The sound of water crashing against the walls of the town square cut him off. Toph lifted her head, now out of the clouds, and turned towards the noise. "It's Katara. Let's go."_

Sokka, now giddy with excitement at the prospect of winning the battle, winning the _war_, scooted himself over to where Toph sat and threw himself at her.

"He did it! We did it!" Sokka squeezed his friend with everything he had, ignoring her squeak of shock.

She patted his back slowly, holding herself back. He wasn't hers to show affection to, anyway. Her heart beat harder as she felt his grip soften. It started to feel less like 'squeeze your best friend really hard' and more like 'serious human-to-human emotional exchange'. Her heart nearly stopped when he sighed into her shoulder, stroking his thumb gently over her back. Yup, they were definitely having a moment.

And for once, Toph let her guard down. The reality of the situation crept up on her. She had fulfilled her duty. She taught Aang earthbending, and they had won the war. Everything would be different now. And Sokka… Sokka had avenged his mother, in a sense. He had a hand in bringing peace to the world. Something he never knew, having been raised in an environment of constant caution. A struggle she had never known, and couldn't fathom to know. Her chest swelled, her throat closed up, and she gripped his shirt as she began to weep.

Sokka remained unfazed, instead pulling her closer into his embrace. "I wouldn't, couldn't have done this without you," he whispered, rocking her.

Toph, still overwhelmed, pulled away and wiped at the fluids that had begun to drip from her eyes and nose. "Of course not," she laughed, her voice still thick with emotion. She swallowed and sniffed, vigorously shaking her head for a moment and trying to regain her dignity. "But I couldn't have done it either," she confessed, reaching out to his arm. "Without you, I mean. Back there on the airship."

Sokka watched as her small, pale fingers wrapped around his wrist, covering the scars she had unknowingly left behind. It would serve as a permanent reminder to him of the hardship they had faced together, of their relationship that now transcended a simple friendship. But he would keep it a secret for himself. He clenched his jaw tightly, lifting his hands to grip her face. Her arm fell, and with it, the pillar they sat upon began to lower back to the ground.

"I will never let anything bad happen to you," he stated, severing the jokes, the cheerful gratitude, the celebration, and dragging Toph back down to that uncomfortable yet necessary moment of vulnerability. The wind rushed through her hair as she felt them approach the earth once again, and she wondered who exactly was doing the grounding.

His hands gripped her face tight, looking into her boundless eyes. For a moment, he almost felt like she was looking back, seeing through him.

Their stomachs gurgled in unison, eliciting a cackle from Toph.

"How much longer should we wait to be found?" Sokka asked. "This is serious business, missy. My stomach is not happy right now."

"Ehhh." Toph flapped her hand in the air, pushing herself up from her seat on the sand. "I can try to find us a snack in the meantime. Unless you actually want to start walking _towards_ the carnage?"

Truthfully, Toph didn't care either way. She was still riding the high from the pair's interaction during the flood. The occasional flashback of nearly dying but surviving, feeling the dirt between her toes once again, certainly helped peak her adrenaline and giddiness. And the fact that they had won the war was just the cherry on top.

She acknowledged that her guard was let down, and the weight of it off her shoulders felt pretty good. The significance of it all had softened her, a tightly closed bud slowly unraveling at the warmth of the sun. But high noon on the day of Sozin's comet had turned out to be hotter than anticipated, and she and Sokka had taken to the river to cool off and scrub the soot from their skin.

"How exactly do you plan on finding food in there?" Sokka asked, watching her march to the entrance of the forest. His broken leg propped was up on a rock, his eyebrow raised.

"What do you mean how? There's plenty of food in forests. All sorts of critters, plants, berries-"

"Okay. Just make sure you don't pick the purple ones."

Toph scowled, disappearing into the foliage and haphazardly waving goodbye. Sokka chuckled to himself and turned his gaze back towards the river, watching the gentle waves glimmer in the sunlight. His eyes traced the break of the waves towards the airship, sitting sad and defeated. Toph's words echoed in his head.._carnage.._

People had died at his hand that morning. If they continued walking, what would they see, sprawled across the forest floor? Who would they find in the rubble of the fallen airships? His plan had been such a success, but he knew he was hiding himself from the consequences. And after all, the loss of life would be felt on both sides. Unless some miracle had occurred, he was sure he had lost Suki, and there was no use denying it any more. The determined look she always wore, her strength and agility, her compassion- all of it lost in a fog of smoke and ash. Sokka knew from an early age that war wasn't fair. Yet he still found himself biting the inside of his lip in an attempt to stifle the creature trying to crawl out from his throat and scream into the abyss. He knew war now, but knowing something never helped stop him from feeling it when it happened.

He had come to terms with his mother's death. He had even accepted Yue's- so far away that now seemed. He squinted towards the cloudless sky, once again making a futile search for the moon in broad daylight. He knew his mother was always with him, after all, he was her son. And Yue had even said it to him in spirit. But Suki?

Sokka released the grip from his lip, unable to hold back the ragged sigh that pushed out of his mouth. A stream of tears sprung from the corners of his eyes and ran down his face, dripping into the sand with a soft _pat_. He ran his hand up and down his arm, trying to console himself.

Meanwhile, Toph dragged her feet across the forest floor in ecstasy. So many sensations to take in, so alive and exciting and different from the hot, barren sheets of metal on the airship. Here she could feel an entire ecosystem below her feet. The roots of trees, stretching out like roads. Worms and other bugs digging about, birds landing on branches and taking off again (reminding her of Aang), the soft rumble of an antlered frog croaking, mushrooms sprouting near a- oh. Mushrooms!

Toph made her way over, careful not to spill the berries and nuts she had found along the way and was sheltering in a makeshift pouch of her shirt. She bent down and grabbed a fistful of the fungi. Content with the yield of her foraging, Toph began her trek back to the beach, smug and satisfied with herself. She ignored the occasional nut or berry that dropped from the overflow- she could afford it.

The energy of the forest slowly sunk away as she approached the beach. She paused momentarily, now able to feel Sokka within her scope. He was touching at his right wrist again.

"I thought you said your leg was the only thing bothering you," she accused, kicking up sand as she walked towards him.

Sokka looked up in surprise, violently sniffing in any evidence of his breakdown. He knew she had more experience with sand-bending after their "mini-vacation" on Ember Island, but he was surprised she could still detect the positioning and movement of his body on top of the shifty terrain.

"I've been fine tuning it," Toph smirked, as if she read his mind. She sat down with a flop and deposited the contents of her pouch in front of Sokka.

"I hope you know what's poisonous and what's not. Not really trying to babysit today." She pulled a nut out of the pile and crushed the shell of it in her fist, popping its contents into her mouth. She'd never heard of a poisonous nut, at least. "Although," she continued, a smile creeping up as she crunched away, "cactus juice does sound pretty fun."

And just like that, Sokka began to feel better. They snacked and reminisced on their times in the Si Wong Desert, imitating each other, tossing back witty banter and barreling over at their inside jokes. The group didn't often hear a real, hearty Toph laugh, but Sokka relished in the sound when it happened, even more so when he was the one to cause such a sight. The way she threw her head back, suppressing nothing and letting all of her joy tumble out of her mouth, boyish yet high-pitched and childlike. And sometimes, in those rare instances like this one, he had said something _just_ stupid enough to cause her to curl over herself, clutching her stomach and shaking while no laughter poured out at all, until her head lifted back up to wipe the tears from her eyes and catch a breath, if she was able. He had grown to enjoy her company so much over the time they had known each other.

_"…and she's always sucking the fun out of everything, Sokka. Hate to break it ya, but your sister is a fun sponge." Toph had been rambling the whole way down the mountain about her tiff with Katara, and Sokka had been mostly tuning it out, having heard her spiels before. The view of the gated entrance was his saving grace. _

_"I'll race ya to town," Toph challenged, pretending to lift up sleeves on her sleeveless fire nation shirt. _

_"Alright," Sokka accepted with a grin. "But no earthbending!" He sprinted away mid-sentence, tongue sticking out as he burst down the hill towards the fire nation town. The gates drew closer and closer, Sokka already mentally preparing for his winning speech._

_He felt the ground before him give a quick shake before his foot got caught on a rock, causing him to faceplant directly in front of the gate. He lifted his head in annoyance as he watched Toph saunter under the overpass, chiming "Beat-cha."_

_"You cheated," Sokka whined, sitting up and dusting off his clothes. "You made me trip on that rock!" He turned around and confirmed his suspicion- a very conveniently placed rock was jutting out of the ground, triangular in shape and reeking of earthbending. He turned back to Toph, pouting. She was crossing her arms, a smug smile peaking from behind her bangs. That was just how Toph was, Sokka knew. She was a peculiar person, helping them save the world yet consistently revealing her unstable moral ground. She always seemed to teeter between good and bad, her motivation stemming from a place of convenience and power, neatly disguised in the body of a short, handicapped girl._

_"I don't know what you were expecting, Sokka," she laughed, tilting her right foot skyward but keeping her heel grounded. A short pillar of rock knocked against his bottom, forcing him onto his feet. "I mean, I'm literally about to scam a bunch of people."_

_Sokka whined again in disapproval, rubbing his bottom as they made their way towards the center of town. They passed familiar alleys where previous gambling had occurred. Sokka, while still enjoying their lucrative escapades, was cautious after finding the wanted poster of "The Runaway" and didn't want to test their luck, so to speak._

_"Besides," she continued, turning the corner towards their new victim, "I don't think I can _not _earthbend. If I didn't I wouldn't be able to see where I was running."_

_Sokka pondered this while she put on her helpless façade and approached the men gambling with rigged dice. He watched from afar as she tossed the dice into the air, her neck crooking ever so slightly to the left as they landed. It was incredible, how she was able to feel the notches in the die, and override the weights in it that had been causing the dealer's victims to fork over their savings. She made it look so terribly easy, and maybe for her it was. Sokka huffed, impressed, as she shyly asked the men whether or not she had won. _

_When she made her way back to him, clutching a heavy bag of silver pieces in each hand, he slung his arm over her shoulder and said, "And this is why, for you Toph, I'll turn a blind eye."_

They had settled down, finding themselves once more in a state of uncommon peace. The breeze was welcome in the heat of the day, and they sighed in contentment at its caress. Their breath mingled together in the air, hovering above them until it began a journey down the riverbank at the mercy of the wind. It picked up, lifting it over the trees, carrying it past the life of the forest and into desolation, over bodies, weapons, scrap metal. It blew past the carcass of a fallen airship, through its nooks, crannies, and catwalks, swirling around in the engine room and gently lifting the short hair of a warrior. It continued through shattered windows, over charred stumps and wreckage. It blew past a boomerang, twirling the ash around it like incense. And finally, the wind carried their breath over the lake, pushing around the tall columns of rock and gently brushing past Aang like a whisper. He turned his head in the direction from which that breeze had been born, and he knew.

After the hundred year war, their journey as a team and a group of friends continued. There were many more battles- losses and triumphs- that they would face. Some in a new world, one they had built together, some in parts that remained untouched, and some in the world that only spirits inhabited.

Sokka was reminded every day thereafter of that morning that marked the end of the hundred year war. Each night he would strip and remove the water tribe wrappings that hid the scars on his arm, and sink himself into a hot bath. He never did answer Toph's question on the beach, upholding a promise he had made to himself. Over the years, he had turned her away, watching her settle with another man, and then another, raising her children alone. His eye on her was kept close, which turned out to be a relatively easy task as chairman of the United Republic counsel. The half moons, the scars that grew to be so precious to him, were an omen and a constant reminder. For this, he was grateful. He would love no one, for those that he loved would be lost. And perhaps he wasn't cursed, perhaps he _could_ share his life with someone. But for Sokka, the risk of it was too great, and he learned to find comfort in watching, protecting, from the sidelines, until the end of his days.

_"Right this way, miss Beifong," the acolyte said quickly, taking her arm and guiding her through the temple. Her earthbending had only gotten stronger as she aged, but she was still unable to see through wooden floors. _

_She was guided into his room, and Katara rose to her feet from the seat of his bed, bending the water she was healing with back into a bowl. "You made it," she breathed warmly, moving quickly across the floor and wrapping Toph in her arms. _

_"Katara, would you give us a moment?" Sokka asked, his voice lacking its usual spark. _

_And then they were alone. Toph placed her hand on his chest- his heartbeat weak. It was time, she knew, for his story to end, as she had known when Aang had passed. _

_"She hasn't been taking it well," he rasped, looking towards the door Katara had passed through. "Take care of her."_

_Toph couldn't hold back. "Yeah?" Her voice cracked, but she couldn't find the energy to care anymore. "And who's going to take care of me?" She covered her face with her hands and lowered them to her knees, a sob choking out. She couldn't feel the way she usually did. "Dammit," she weeped. "Why do the floors have to be wood?"_

_Sokka barked out a laugh, pulling her arm away and wiping his hand beneath her dripping eyes. "I want to tell you something," he said, bringing her fingers to his arm and pulling his sleeve up. She dragged her pale fingers across his flesh, feeling four small indentations. "Do you know what this is?" he asked her gently, adjusting the positioning of her hand so that it wrapped around him, her nails fitting into each notch, her thumb resting on the bone where his wrist met his palm. She felt his pulse, stronger now. She could smell ash._

_"I knew I would always protect you," he continued softly. "And I think I'm allowed to tell you this now. What I feel, how you've impacted my life. I feel safe telling you, now that I'm the one leaving. But I never let you go. Since that moment, I couldn't let you go."_

_Her hand fell._

_"You turned me away," she said through gritted teeth. "You made it clear to me you didn't want to be a part of my life like that."_

_"Toph, I wanted to protect-"_

_"I can protect myself! I would've given you a family- we could've had the _world_-"_

_"I couldn't take that risk-"_

_"I let you lie to my face, all because of this stupid prophecy you kept telling yourself-"_

_"I love you."_

_She paused, the pain on her face shattering him. "You denied us", she wailed. "I'll never forgive you for that."_

_Sokka struggled to pull himself up, but the regret he knew she felt gave him the strength he needed. He couldn't let her hurt like that. He grew lightheaded, not used to exerting the energy._

_Toph fell into his embrace and they held each other. Sokka lifted her chin. She had grown so beautiful- smile lines and crow's feet still visible despite the tears. Her eyes, always captivating. _She can't see me_,_ _he recalled, his memory faltering for a moment. He pulled her in, resting his lips firmly against her forehead. She raised her head, brushing their noses for a moment, letting their breaths intermingle, before kissing him hard and steadfast. _

_Katara removed the puffy sleeve of her robe that she had used to stifle her sobbing. She sat crouched next to the door that was left cracked open, allowing her to hear what had transpired, what she had always had a suspicion of. She would give anything to talk to Aang, for some consolation. The only family she had left was the generation she had created and would one day leave behind as well. She hugged herself, quietly clearing her throat and wiping away at her face. _

_To her surprise, Toph had exited the room, pausing near Katara and turning her head ever so slightly in her direction. For a moment, Katara was scared. _

_"Tell me when it's over," she said hoarsely. And off she went, head held high, down the hall._

_Toph had left United Republic shortly after, following a small voice inside her. She struck up camp in the Foggy Swamp, where she sought enlightenment, answers, closure. She gave herself to the earth. She let flashbacks of her childhood, of the war, overcome her, let it teach her. She saw her children grow old, and her grandchildren. She waited for full moons, when a wolf spirit would visit during her meditations, always fleeting, like a breath in the wind._

_And over time, Toph found that some friendships really did transcend lifetimes._


End file.
